Carolyn Wyler

“What so proudly we”…HELL NO!

I am angry, embarrassed, frustrated and scared, but proud? It’s not an adjective I would use to describe how I feel about my country right now. Not at all!

I can remember the day when my feelings began to change. It was on my 57th birthday, January 20th, 2017, 165 days ago, (http://howlonghasdonaldtrumpbeenpresident.com to be exact, though it feels as though it’s been years). On that day, the nation threw me a huge party and I came dressed in black.

I felt both scared and worried on that birthday. At that time though, I did not know that I really did not need to feel that way. What I needed to feel, what every American needed to feel, was terrified! Our country was taking a huge turn in a really, really bad direction. Something I loved was dying.

Each day in the paper, there is a new scandal, a derogatory tweet, a bullying, a fight or a shooting. Terrorists are not the biggest threat to this country. It is our president and others that are blindly following his lead. “We have met the enemy and he is us.”(Walt Kelly).

Many people think this hatred is acceptable. They excuse it, “but Hilary’s emails…but Obama…” We are not dealing with them anymore so STFU!! Meddling, bullying, money laundering, shootings, fighting, are never okay, no matter who does it!

The American flag, a symbol of hope, freedom, and equality, feels dirty to me now. The flag that I so proudly once hailed, hanging and blowing in the wind, creates anger, fear, and sadness. I can’t, in all honesty, put my hand on my heart and pledge allegiance to that emblem. I kneel; head bowed in sadness, wondering what is becoming of the country I once knew and loved.

I am not trying to be disrespectful. Saying the flag makes me angry or that I’m not proud to call myself an American, does not, I repeat, DOES NOT mean that I don’t respect those that have served and/or died in the military. To me, there are no braver women and men in this world than those that put their lives on the line, in the hopes of making a better country, a better world.

There has always been corruption in the world, but I believe the “America First” slogan has alienated us from our neighbors and friends. Other countries, that for years have been our allies, now are beginning to question our friendship, some even beginning to hate us. What happened to “Love thy neighbor as thyself?” or, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free?” That is the America I fell in love with. That is the America I want back!

When we get it back (and we will), it is then I can place a hand across my heart and proudly say, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.”